Another Side To The Beats, Rhymes & Life: The Travels of A Tribe Called Quest Story
A main source of the tension on A Tribe Called Quest‘s 2008 tour, as documented in the new film Beats, Rhymes, & Life (directed by Michael Rappaport, pictured above with Phife Dawg), is an interview Q-Tip gave to Spin. Today the Awl ran a complementary piece by the author of that Q-Tip profile. [The Awl]

Morrissey Prefers Edith Piaf To “McDonna” And Has “No Love For” Himself But Plenty For His Music
Also among the unsurprising quotes in the interview Billboard published today: “The word ‘indie’ is meaningless now.” We’d say, “Never change,” but Morrissey certainly isn’t in danger of that. [Billboard]
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Black Eyed Peas Turn Themselves Into Split Peas
During a concert performance in England, will.i.am, Fergie and the other two guys told the crowd that the show was going to be the “last time we’re going to be in England for a long time”; they later expanded on that statement by announcing that they are taking an “indefinite break” from making music together. Sadly, this probably means that you are likely to see will.i.am once again appearing as a hologram on a television near you imminently. [HuffPo]

“Big Baseball Player Back In High School” From Springsteen’s “Glory Days” Identified
His name’s Joe DePugh, and he tried out for the Dodgers. He would probably amend his assessment about his glory days passing him by if asked today. [New York Times]

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Japan-Relief Little Monster Money In Mother Monster’s Pocket?
Lady Gaga has been cited in a class action lawsuit filed in Michigan, claiming that some of the proceeds from the “Japan Prayer Bracelets” she designed and sold to raise money for the tsunami relief effort have not actually gone towards tsunami relief. [E! Online]

Morrissey Tries To Add U2 To His “Hate List,” Finds They’re Already There (Along With The Rest Of Us)
Pitchfork‘s Ryan Dombal interviewed Morrissey, formerly of the Smiths, about how Moz hates to be referred to in context of the Smiths, the difficulty of getting a record recorded in the current climate, and the impossibility of matching the draw of certain acts at festivals like Glastonbury: “U2 have an enormous Star Wars set with drumsticks that light up northern Africa, and a sound system that would drown out an earthquake. I can’t compete with that. Not with my post office savings account. All I have to offer the world are songs.”

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